Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Know What's Happening in Entertainment
Super Mario Galaxy film targets $200M+ opening weekend
Nintendo and Illumination are positioning the upcoming "Super Mario Galaxy" movie to open with more than $200 million domestically over the Easter holiday weekend. The strategy leans on the franchise’s multigenerational appeal and a family‑focused release window, with analysts citing the 2015 "Avengers: Age of Ultron" $191 million opening as a benchmark.
Also developing:
By the numbers: K-Love seeks FCC approval to acquire WFCC
Instagram’s algorithm now prioritizes Sends per Reach (SPR), measuring how often posts are privately shared via DM relative to their reach. Adam Mosseri confirmed SPR as a key ranking signal, shifting focus from likes and saves to intentional private sharing. Brands and creators are urged to adopt the Hook‑Body‑Send framework, use caption SEO, and craft share‑worthy formats like mini‑infographics and memes to boost SPR. Optimizing for SPR can amplify organic reach and foster deeper engagement.
The Music Managers Forum (MMF) chief Annabella Coldrick warned that the UK music scene faces an "unspoken crisis" despite the Brit Awards’ fanfare. Data shows only 15 of the top‑40 albums and 20% of the top‑100 tracks last year involved...
Cross‑posting short‑form videos in 2026 demands platform‑specific tweaks rather than simple duplication. The article outlines a matrix that details required changes in aspect ratios, safe‑zone placement, caption rewrites, and audio licensing for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Brands are...
Telemundo cemented its position as the leading Spanish‑language network in primetime for 2026, topping Nielsen ratings Monday‑Sunday with an average of 339,000 Adults 18‑49 and 1.1 million total viewers. The network posted double‑digit growth year‑over‑year, up 13% among adults and 17%...
Policyband Headlines ■ Are Nexstar and @TEGNA on the Same Page on When Deal Might Close? ■ Analyst Supino: PSky Might Need to Pay $7 Billion Breakup Fee ■ Swarztrauber: @NTIAgov Needs BEAD Rainy Day Fund ■ Former @FTC Democrat Slaughter Fears...
Versant investor call is about to begin CEO Mark Lazarus and CFO/COO Anand Kini are on the call.... $VSNT
In this episode, David Contreras, COO and founder of Pistol Consortia, shares how his architectural practice blends entertainment design with the rigor of healthcare projects, emphasizing the emotional journey guests experience when entering a space. He discusses the challenges and...
D.C. Memo: @Optimum CEO Pitches @FCC Chairman @BrendanCarrFCC on @NXSTMediaGroup/@TEGNA Merger Conditions. Dennis Mathew urges FCC leader to require 'divestiture of Big-4 triopolies in a local market' $NXST $TGNA | https://t.co/aAaKQ9Pivw
Warner Music has signed a partnership with South Korean management firm MAINSTREAM, the agency behind artists Lee Young Ji and Kik5o. The deal focuses on talent development, music production and global promotion, with Warner Music Korea taking a leading coordination role. The...
FISSURE announced the cancellation of three upcoming tournaments – an April event in Shenzhen, China, and two July events slated for 2026 and 2027. The Chinese tournament conflicted with the IEM Rio kickoff, while the July dates fell during the...
Formula One has extended its Australian broadcast partnership with Foxtel‑owned Kayo Sports, launching a multi‑year deal from the 2027 season. Foxtel will pay roughly AUS $60 million per year, up from the previous A$45 million arrangement, to deliver every race, qualifying and practice...
Paramount‑Skydance has submitted a US$111 billion offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, aiming to combine two of the industry’s largest content libraries. Netflix announced it will not counter the bid, leaving Paramount‑Skydance as the sole serious suitor. The proposal would bring...
Disney CFO Hugh Johnston announced that Hulu will be merged into the Disney+ app in the United States by year‑end. The integration will combine watch histories and data to deliver sharper, personalized recommendations and a more customized homepage. Disney plans...
Auditory FX has launched Sonic Survival Kits V2, a comprehensive radio imaging library featuring 309 tracks and more than 100 custom music beds, priced at $89.99. The new edition expands on the 2019 V1 release, delivering a complete, subscription‑free package...
BBC chief operating officer Leigh Tavaziva announced she will leave the broadcaster in September, marking the third board‑level exit within four months. Tavaziva, who joined the BBC in 2021, oversaw its multi‑billion‑pound budget, production pipelines, and digital transformation. Her departure...
NBC has ordered a second season of the adventure‑travel competition "Destination X," hosted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The series, produced by Twofour and Universal Television Alternative Studio, topped summer ratings and attracted more than 20 million viewers across all platforms, becoming Peacock’s best‑performing...
Spanish systems integrator MoMe has launched the country’s first streaming‑optimised content delivery network, using Synamedia’s Fluid EdgeCDN platform. The service spans eight data centres, placing edge nodes close to viewers to minimise latency and improve reliability. Integrated ingest, encoding and...
Independent music retailers are grappling with a new 15% tariff imposed for 150 days after the Supreme Court struck earlier duties, while consumer confidence stays weak and industry consolidation accelerates. Vendors have raised prices and tightened MAP policies, squeezing margins...
German event series ‘The Widow Killer’ has secured multiple European distribution deals ahead of its German debut on ARD. Canal+ acquired rights for the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, while Sweden’s SVT purchased the series for its...
Hisense Smart TVs running the VIDAA platform are now showing a full‑screen, unskippable advertisement immediately after power‑on, before users can reach live broadcast channels. The same behavior has been reported on Toshiba and JVC TVs that share the VIDAA OS,...
Global music revenues are projected to hit $200 billion by 2035, yet lyrics— the core narrative element of songs—account for just 1 % of publishing income. Rio Caraeff argues that this disparity limits the industry’s growth potential, especially as lyrics drive superfans who...
Starz posted Q4 2025 revenue of $322.8 million, a 6.3% decline year‑over‑year, driven by a 12% drop in streaming‑related sales. Linear and other revenue rose 6.6% to $112.5 million, partially offsetting the shortfall. The operating loss narrowed dramatically to $4.7...
A federal judge rejected Live Nation’s last‑minute bid to pause the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed as scheduled. Jury selection concluded with twelve jurors sworn in, setting the stage for a six‑week trial that will...
Too Lost has introduced Profile Defender, a real‑time monitoring tool that flags and removes unauthorized AI‑generated tracks from major streaming services. The feature responds to recent high‑profile incidents where fake releases appeared on Spotify under the names of Blaze Foley,...
Omnicom’s BBDO has created a global chief experience officer role to overhaul how it serves clients amid a wave of holding‑company mergers, AI hype, and industry distractions. The new chief, Daale Carter, is replacing traditional account management with a "business...
Marketing agencies are confronting the economics of generative‑AI tokens as they embed large‑language‑model tools into campaigns. Tokens, which meter compute, can add up quickly—Coca‑Cola’s recent ad required millions of them—prompting agencies to devise new pricing structures. Some firms, like Merge...
Meta has embedded an AI agent suite called Manus into its Ads Manager, following a $2 billion acquisition of the Singapore‑based startup Butterfly Effect. The tool promises automated competitor analysis, audience research, campaign measurement and reporting across Facebook and Instagram. Early...
OpenAI has launched a trial ad platform inside ChatGPT, enlisting The Knot Worldwide as one of its first brand partners. The wedding‑planning service is testing ad performance, brand‑safety protocols, and data insights while also debuting its own app within the...
FY23 financial projections from the Warner Media / DISCA deal. Fast forward to FY25: WBD generated total revenues of $37.3 billion, with $10.9 billion from DTC, EBITDA of $8.7 billion, and FCF of $3.1 billion. Missed every one of their financial projections...
Fun fact: Paramount will now own 25% of the CW Network. CBS and Warner each held 12.5% stakes so...25%.
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has named Raúl Rolo as Vice President and Regional Legal Counsel for Latin America, based in Mexico City. Rolo will report to Carla Sánchez‑Armas and Jesse Martin, overseeing the MPA’s IP protection and government‑relations strategy...
This is the problem with all legacy media streaming services - will be fascinating to see if David Ellison & team can change this narrative at $PSKY
iKO Media Group has unveiled iKOSYSTEM, a unified broadcast operations platform that consolidates satellite, cloud, OTT, FAST and monitoring services into a single, secure environment. The solution offers single‑sign‑on access, role‑based permissions and a real‑time dashboard that provides engineers and...
Channel 4 Sales is relaunching its B Corp competition, offering £600,000 of free TV advertising to five certified UK B Corporations. Partnering with B Lab UK, the initiative follows a successful first year that boosted brand perception and sales for winners like Seep and Ticket Tailor....
Australian broadcasters ABC and Nine launched competing true‑crime documentaries on Jeffrey Epstein, drawing 780,000 and 766,000 viewers respectively. The strong ratings demonstrate significant audience appetite for investigative content, even as they trailed flagship reality shows like Married at First Sight....
Genuine q as I’m no economist: seems like plenty more media/tech layoffs incoming — Paramount/WBD, big tech w/AI, decline of trad media, etc — so an abundance of well paid people fighting for no jobs in markets that don’t want...
Friday: RedBird helps Paramount pry Warner Bros. away from Netflix. Monday: RedBird helps Artists Equity ink major streaming deal with Netflix.
In 2016 Netflix and Amazon Prime Video entered India amid Jio’s 4G rollout and a dramatic fall in data prices, turning a catch‑up TV market into a subscription‑driven ecosystem. Over the decade Netflix grew to roughly 16 million Indian subscribers and...
AT&T’s chief operating officer told investors that cable operators are not yet exerting measurable pressure on the telecom giant’s results. He highlighted four consecutive quarters of stable performance despite cable MVNO growth and emphasized the company’s expanding fiber footprint into...
Optimum has introduced a “25 for 5” campaign that locks internet prices for five years, starting at $25 per month for 300 Mbps service. The offer expands to a 500 Mbps plan at $35/month with six months of ad‑supported HBO Max, and a...
Sparklight Mobile, the Cable One subsidiary, has rolled out a nationwide promotion offering a free unlimited‑data line for twelve months to both new and existing customers. After the promotional period, the plan reverts to the standard $30 per month rate,...
Webtoon Entertainment reported Q4 2025 revenue of $330.7 million, a 4.1% decline, while full‑year revenue rose 3.9% to $1.4 billion. The quarter’s net loss ballooned to $336.5 million, driven primarily by a goodwill impairment tied to Wattpad. A strategic milestone was Disney’s...
U.S. and Israeli forces conducted a daylight strike on Iran over the weekend, targeting multiple senior Iranian officials, including a reported attempt on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israeli intelligence said the operation seized a rare, high‑confidence window, prompting an...
Getting Your Music Placed in TV Shows Like; Selling Sunset, Holiday Wars 📺 This is what you do ↴
I'm excited for @netflix's #Narnia movie for three reasons. 1. It's the streamer's biggest theatrical step 2. It will test franchise IP reactivation/fantasy hunger 3. I love Greta Gerwig See how the film is tracking and what it means for the industry. https://t.co/xij6SmW3BX
Stan has teamed up with the Australian Children’s Television Foundation to launch "Whale Shark Jack," a family‑focused feature set on Western Australia’s Ningaloo Reef. The film stars Abbie Cornish, Michael Dorman and newcomer Alyla Browne, and follows a marine‑biologist family and their rescued...
iHeartMedia reported a modest revenue increase in Q4 2025, but its adjusted EBITDA fell in the middle of the company’s own guidance range, and the firm recorded a net loss. Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman said the results were satisfactory,...
Houston Dash owner Ted Segal has relaunched the formal sale process after last year’s negotiations with RHC Partners collapsed over NWSL league concerns about the buyer’s funding source. The Dash were previously valued at $74 million, well below the league’s average...
This week’s cord‑cutter roundup highlights five cost‑saving offers across streaming, audio, power and TV accessories. Philo’s Core plan drops to $25 for new users, delivering HBO Max and Discovery+ at no extra charge. Bose’s QuietComfort headphones are discounted to $229, while...
On Air Fest in Brooklyn highlighted a seismic shift in podcasting from craft‑focused journalism to creator‑driven, celebrity‑centric formats. Panelists admitted the economics of audio remain murky, with only a handful of shows turning a profit. The rise of “chat‑casts” and...
